AIMS completes BBY asset purchase

The asset acquisition may require a deed of company arrangement to be accepted by creditors before the BBY corporate entity is returned to solvency, and it is the first step in the restructure process.

This month, BBY was placed into administration after its broking and advisory group was unable to repay a $6 million loan to St George Bank.

AIMS said it now intends to operate the BBY business as a standalone entity under the BBY Asia Pacific Group brand, and will also consider bringing in new investors.

“We want to keep and grow the BBY brand, its people and its businesses. We are now actively working with the team at BBY to get things back and running normally as soon as practical,” AIMS Financial Group chairman George Wang said.

The AIMS team includes former Macquarie Financial Services executive director and chief executive of E*Trade Australia Brett Spork, who has been seconded from AIMS Capital Securities to help the BBY broking team.

Former ASX and Pershing Securities executive and AIMS Capital Securities COO Adam Joseph will review back office, risk management and settlement systems and AIMS Financial Group head of investment banking Mike Netterfield, previously head of corporate finance at CIMB in Hong Kong and head of corporate finance, Asia, at RBS in Hong Kong is to review corporate strategy and operations.

Established in 1991, AIMS is a diversified financial services and investment group, active in the areas of mortgage lending, securitisation, stockbroking, investment banking, funds management, property investment and high-tech investment.

AIMS subsidiary AIMS Securities is changing its name to BBY Asia Pacific Group to help enable BBY’s 56,000 clients to recommence trading and access shares frozen by the suspension.